Overseaming sewing-machine.



I A. GRIEB. OVERBEAMING SEWING MACHINE.

. APPLIUATIOH'IILED JUI IB 26, 1909. I 982,717.- Patented Jan. 24, 1911.

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3A. GRIEB. OVBRSBAMING SEWING MACHINE.

APPLICATION IILBD JUNE 26, 1909.

Patented J an. "24, 1911.

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l/VVE/VTOR ATTORNEY WITNESSES? f1 5 Tilj NORRIS PIYIRS col, wAsmNa-mu,0. t1

A. GRIBB. ov'nnsmmme SEWING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 25, 1909.

Patented Jam 24, 1911.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

ITO/ME V WITNESSES.-

Tut NORRIS PETERS cu, wAsmNcnw, 0 c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALFRED GRIEE, OF ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THE SINGER MANUFAC-TURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

OVERSEAMING SEWING-MACHINE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALFRED GRIEB, a citizen of the United States,residing at Elizabeth, in the county of Union and State of New Jersey,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in OverseamingSewing-Machines, of which the following is a specification, referencebeing had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention has for its object to provide a simple and effectivemechanism for producing overseams along the margins of fabrics, andparticularly overseams of the kind in which upper and lower loops of thesame thread are concatenated upon the edge of the fabric.

In its preferred embodiment, the present improvement comprises stitchforming mechanism including a reciprocating eyepointed needle and acooperating latch-needle or looper movable transversely of the path ofmovement of the eye-pointed needle and reciprocating once above and oncebelow the throat-plate in enchaining loops of needle-thread upon theedge of the fabric. The looper is carried by a looper-bar slidinglymounted upon a vibratory guide-bar moving in a plane parallel withtheneedle-path, the looper-bar having a link connection with a vibratorylever actuated by a toggle device which is driven by a crank upon themainshaft of the machine in such manner that it is bent across itsstraightened or neutral po sition twice for each needle reciprocation,whereby the looper is given two reciproczv tory movements to eachreciprocation of the needle, the vibrations of the looper-supportingguide-bar being such that one of these reciprocations takes place whilethe needle is in its lower position and the other while the needle is inits upper position. Means are provided whereby the relative strokes ofthe looper in its upper and lower positions may be Varied to change theaction of the looper upon the needle-thread loops and thereby change thecharacter of the stitch produced.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a machine embodying thepresent improvement, and Fig. 2 an end elevation of the same. Fig. 3 isa sectional elevation of the lower portion of the machine looking toeward the front. Fig. 4 is a detail view of the looper vibratingmechanism. Fig'. 5 is a detail view of the looper-reciprocatingSpecification of Letters Patent.

Application filed June 25, 1909.

Serial No. 504,246.

mechanism representing the needle in its lower osition and the looper initslower loop-seizing position, and Figs. 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 are detailviews showing the needle and looper in elevation and plan in differentoperative relations.

The machine is constructed with the base 1 having journaled in suitablestandards 2 the longitudinally extending main-shaft 3 and provided witha needle-actuating ballcrank 4. The rearward standard 2 is provided witha seat 5 to which is fitted and secured the foot 6 of a bracket-arm 7having a head 8 in which is journaled the vertically reciprocatingneedle-bar 9 carrying the eyepointed needle 10. Upon the needle-bar issecured the collar 11 having the lateral lug 12 connected by means ofthe link 13 with the forwardly extending arm 14 of a lever mounted uponthe transverse fulcrum-pin 15 and having a rearwardly extending arm 16provided with a ball-crank pin 17 which is embraced by the upper end ofa pitma'n 18 whose lower end embraces the actuating ballcrank 4 of themain-shaft which thus imparts the reciprocatory movements to the needle10.

Cooperating with the needle 10 is the latch-needle or looper 19 formedwith hooked operative end 20 adapted to be closed by means of theswinging latch 21 pivoted at 22 within a lateral slot or recess in theshank of the latch-needle or looper. The looper-shank is fitted within agroove 23 in the sliding looper-bar 24 in which it is secured by meansof the head 25 of a clamp-screw in a manner well-known. The looper-bar24 is slidingly fitted within a raceway 26 formed in the front face of avibratory guide-bar 27 in which it is confined by means of theoverhanging gibs 27*. The guide-bar 27 is fixed upon the rock-shaft 28which is journaled in bearing members 29 extending from the foot 6 ofthe bracket-arm.

Upon the rock-shaft 28 rearward of the guide-bar 27 is adjustably fixedby means of the set-screw 30 the boss 31 of a forked arm 32 embracingthe bearing blocks 33 fitted upon the ball-crank stud 3 1 which iscarried by a laterally offset lug35 extending upwardly from a yoke 36formed at the free end of an arm 37 which is pivoted upon the fixedfulcrum-pin 38, said yoke embracing the triangular cam 39 upon themain-shaft. The cam 39 is provided with outer and inner Patented Jan.24, 1911 for each rotation .of .the main-shaft. lever 50 is normally soadjusted upon its concentric portions, as in a certain common form offeed-actuating cam, wliereb y the arm '37 is given rising and fallingmovements with intermediate dwells, which are communicated to theguide-bar 27 through the ball-stud 34 and forked arm 32'.

1s uniform; the range of such movement is adjustable by circularlyshifting the forked arm 32 'in relation to the guide bar27upon vtherock-shaft 28.

The looper-bar 24,has a laterally projecting pin 40 embraced by one endof a link 41 whose opposite end is pivoted by means of the pin 42between the spaced members of the forked upper end 43of the swingingactuating lever 44 fulcrumed .upon the stud 45carried .by a lug 46ofthebase 1. The

lever 44 :has pivoted thereto near its fulcrum point by means of thescrew-pin .47 one ,end of a :link 48 whose other end is pivotallyconnected by means of the screw- ;pin 49 with a vibrating lever 50having its split hub 51 adjustably secured by means of theclamp-screw52upon the rock-shaft 53 mounted in bearings upon the base 1,

and provided with anoppositely extending crank-arm 55 provided with aball-stud 56 and axial guide-pin 57. The ball-stud 56 is embraced-by oneendof a pitman 58 whose pivotal pin 49 together constitute a toggledevice between the rock-shaft 53 and the swinging lever 44, and theparts are so arranged that-each rotation of the crank-pin 59with themain-shaft produces a vibratory motionofthe'lever 50 across the straightor neutral position of the toggle intermediate the pivotal points 53 and47, so as to impart tothe lever 44;two complete vibrations Thesupporting shaft 53 fthatit moves substantially equidistantly upon eachside of the neutral line of the toggle, whereby the looper receivesuniform reciprocatorymove- ,ments; but such lever may be so adjustedasto. cause the. extreme position of the looper corresponding with agiven position of the crank-pin 59 to be different in consecutivereciprocations, for reasons which will presently appear.

The machine is provided with the usual throat-plate 62 mounted upon oneof the standards 2, said throat-plate being formed with the usualfeed-dog apertures and with the needle-slot 63 and adjacent stitch-sup-\Vhile' .the extent of rising and vfalling movements imparted by'the cam39 to the guide-bar 27 aortin ton ue 64. Risin above the throat- O G t!plate at the edge of the stitch-supporting tongue 64 opposite theneedle-slot is the rearwardly extending loop-detaining finger .65 whichis slidably tapered toward the back of the machine to shed thethread-loops as the work advances.

Secured upon the throat-plate by means of fastening screws 66 is theedge-guide 67 with overhanging lip 68 for insuring the properpresentation of the margin of the work to the stitclrforming mechanismwith its edge in alinement with the side of the stitch-supporting tongue64 farthest from the needle. The work is advanced to space the stitches,by means of the usual feed-dog 69 which is carried by the feed-bar 70receiving its operative or work-advancing feeding movements throughsuitable connec- .tingthepresserebar to turn for shifting thepresser-foot out of operative relation for insertlon or removal of thework.

The machine is threaded by merely leading the needle-thread a from theSOUIZZYY i of supply through the usual guide-eye in the guide-lug 78 ofthe washer 79 and thence between the springepressed tension disks 80upon the head of the bracket-arm and through the needle-eye, and thematerial m is introduced through the guide .67 68 over the feed-dog .69,and the presser-foot is lowered upon the same;

In the positions of the thread-engaging parts represented in Fig. 1, theneedle is raised and the looper is in its upper and .extreme forwardposition, with a lower thread-loop 64 around its shank beyond theextremityof the retracted latch 21. AS the main-shaft rotates, thehook-ed extremity 20 of the looper begins to recede, seizing the threada beneath the needle-point, and the needle begins to descend. As thelooper nears its retracted position, and as soon as it clears theloop-detaining finger 65, the cam 39 commences to act through theseveral connections vto tilt the guide-bar2'7 into its downwardlyinclined position. In this combined retractive and vibratory movement,when the looper reaches its intermediate or neutral positionsubstantially at the level of the work, the parts assume the positionsthrough a succeeding thread-loop.

represented in Figs. 6 and 7, in which the lower thread-loop ainslipping over the shank of the hook, has thrown the latch forwardly toclose the hook upon the upper thread-loop a over which it has escaped,the upper thread-loop being led over the top of the loop-detainingfinger (55. As the guide-bar 27 reaches its extreme lower position andthe looper-bar 24L. subsequently moves to its extreme forward positionrepresented in Fig. 5, the thread-loop a slips backwardly from thethroat of the hook Q0 and after turning back the latch 21 to theposition represented in Fig. 10, slips beyond the extremity of thelatter.

As the needle commences to rise, the looper hook 2O seizes the threadpresented by the needle and recedes with the same into the intermediateposition represented in Figs. 8 and 9, carrying with it a second lowerthread-loop a through the upper threads loop a which latter has slippedover the looper-shank and closed the hook 20 upon the thread-loop apreparatory to escaping over the looper point upon the last seized loop.In again risingand advancing into the position represented in Fig. 1,the looper passes slightly above the loop-detaining linger which engagesthe adjacent portion of the thread-loop a and causes it to slip alongthe looper shank to open the latch 21 which it moves beyond preparatoryto the succeeding loop-seizing action, which is performed as beforedescribed. As the looper seizes needle-thread loops in both the upperand lower positions of the needle, it is evident that the looper movesin a path wholly at one side of that of the needle, or in a planeparallel with the needle.

When the looper mechanism is so adjusted that the hooked operative endof the looper crosses the needle-path to about the same extent bothabove and below the throat-plate the handling of the upper and lowerthreadloops is substantially the same, and an overseam is produced asbefore described in which each upper thread-loop passes through a lowerthread-loop and around a succeeding lower thread-loop. hen, however, thelever50 is so adjusted upon the rock-shaft 53 (herein represented oftubular form to constitute a rocking sleeve supported by the inner shaftor arbor 5 1*) that the advance of the looper is so diiterent in itsupper and lower reciprocations that in the one the thread-loop embracingits shank is permitted to escape over the extremity of the latch whilein the other reciprocation it fails to clear such extremity of thelatch, a stitch is produced in which an upper and an under thread-loopare simultaneously passed Thus, referring to Fig. 1, when the lever 50is adjusted upwardly upon its supporting rockshaft 53, the upper advancemovement of the looper is increased and the lower advance movement isshortened, whereby in its advance below the work, as in Fig. 5, thelooper does not carry the latch 21 entirely clear of the thread-loop(L2, so that in the return of the looper, the latch is not closed by thethread-loop a and the latter returns into the throat of the hook withthe newly seized thread-loop. In the advance oi the looper in its uppermovement, to the position represented in Fig. 1, the looper shank hashanging thereon both the upper threadloop a? and the lower thread-loop abut in this stroke the looper advances sufliciently to cause both ofthese thread-loops to slip over the free end of the retracted latch 21,so that when the looper recedes to the position represented in Figs. (5and 7, with the new upper thread-loop, the thread-loops a and a, havingclosed the latch 21 upon the point of the hook 20, escape over thelatter upon the newly seized upper thread-loop through which the looperadvances to the lower position represented in Fig. 5 as beforedescribed, after which the stitch-forming operation proceeds as before.

In practice, the normal stroke of the looper-bar 2 1 slightly exceedsthat required to enable it to seize the needle-thread with certainty,the hook 20 attaining its advance position somewhat beyond the verticalneedle-path, so that the adjustment of the driving toggle member 50 forslightly varying the stroke of the looper in its suecessive operativemovements does not endanger the skipping of stitches. In any case,however, the difference in the traverse of the looper above and belowthe throatplate is comparatively small, the difference between the meanstroke and the shortened stroke being merely sufficient to permit thethread-loop upon the looper shank to in the one case just clear the endof the retracted latch and in the other case to remain upon theextremity of the same for return over the latch into the throat 01 thehook.

When the lor)per'reciprocating mechanism is adjusted to impart to thelooper movements of ditl'erent lengths above and below thetln.'oatplate, it is in some cases desirable to change the range ofviln'atory movement of the guide-bar 27, constituting the carrier forthe looper-bar and looper, to correspondingly alter the relation of thelooper to the throat-plate, and this is readily ell'ected by looseningthe set-screw 30 and circularly shifting the guidolmr 27 so as to changethe position of the tli'orked arm upon the rock-shaft 28, the operationof the cam 39 upon the rock-lever 37 being-- uniform for all adjustmentsof the looper mechanism.

\Vhile the looper is herein represented of that type including a hookedthread-engaging end and a pivoted latch adapted to close the throat ofthe hook when shedding the previously seized thread-loop upon asubsequently seized thread-loop engaged by the hook, it is evident thatthe present improvement is not limited to any particular form of looper,as the invention is directed to looper-actuating means which isapplicable to other forms of looper adapted to cooperate with the needleboth above and below the work.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention what I claim hereinis 1. In a sewing machine, the combination with the throat-plate, areciprocating needlebar, a tliread-carrying needle, and means foractuating said needle-bar, of a looper adapted to seize thread-loopsfrom said needle both above and below the throat-plate, alooper-carrier, a fulcrum therefor disposed transversely of theneedle-bar, means for vibrating the looper-carrier upon said fulcrumonce for each reciprocation of the needle, and actuating means forimparting to the looper operative loop-seizing movements of twice thefrequency of the vibratory movements of said carrier.

2. In a sewing machine, the combination with the throat-plate, areciprocating threadcarrying needle and means for actuating the same, ofa looper adapted to seize threadloops from said needle both above andbelow the throat-plate, a looper-carrier mounted for movement in a planewholly at one side of the needle transverse to the line of seam, meansfor imparting rising and falling movements to said carrier once for eachreciprocation of the needle, and actuating means for imparting to thelooper two operative loop-seizing movements with an intermediateretrograde movement for each reciprocation of said needle.

3. In a. sewing machine, the combination with the throat-plate, areciprocating threadcarrying needle and means for actuating the same, ofa looper adapted to seize threadloops from said needle both above andbelow the'throat-plate, a vibratory carrier upon which said looper ismounted, means for vibrating said carrier once for each reciprocation ofthe needle, and actuating means for reciprocating said looper twice foreach reciprocation of said needle, the looper actuating means beingprovided with means of adjustment whereby the relative length oftraverse of the looper in its successive reciprocations above and belowthe throat-plate may be varied.

4. In a sewing machine, the combination with the throat-plate, areciprocating threadcarrying needle and means for actuating the same, ofa looper having a path of movement upon one side only of the needle andadapted to seize thread-loops from the latter both above and below thethroat-plate, a vibratory carrier upon which said looper is mounted,means for vibrating said carrier once 'for each reciprocation of theneedle, and actuating means for imparting to said looper two advanceloop-seizing movements with an intermediate retrograde movement for eachreciprocation of said needle, the looper-actuating means comprising atoggle device and means for bending the same across straightened orneutral position for production of two operative loopseizing movementsof the looper for each reciprocation of the needle.

5. In a sewing machine, the combination with the frame, a rotary shaftjournaled therein and provided with a crank, a throatplate secured uponsaid frame, a reciprocating thread-carrying needle and means connectedwith said rotary shaft for imparting thereto one reciprocation for eachrotation of said shaft, of a looper adapted to seize thread-loops fromsaid needle both above and below the throat-plate, a vibratory carrierupon which said looper is mounted, means connected with said shaft forimparting to said carrier one vibratory movement for each rotation ofthe shaft, and reciprocating means for said looper comprising a toggledevice and means connected with said crank upon the main-shaft forbending said toggle across straightened or neutral position to producetwo operative loop-seizing movements of the looper for eachreciprocation of the needle.

6. In a sewing machine, the combination with the frame, a rotary shaftjournaled therein and provided with a crank, a throatplate secured uponsaid frame, a reciprocating thread-carrying needle and means connectedwith said rotary shaft for imparting thereto one reciprocation for eachrotation of said shaft, of a looper adapted to cooperate with saidneedle both above and below the throat-plate, a vibratory carrier uponwhich said looper is mounted, means for imparting to said carrieronevibratory movement for each rotation of the shaft, and reciprocatingmeans for said looper comprising a vibratory actuating lever mountedupon a fixed fulcrum and connected with the looper, a rock-shaft, acrank-arm upon said rock-shaft, a pitman intermediate said crank-arm andthe crank of the main-shaft, a second arm upon said rock-shaft, and alink intermediate said actuating lever and the second arm of saidrock-shaft and forming with the lat-ter a toggle device adapted to bebent to-and-fro across straightened or neutral position for eachrotation of the main-shaft.

7 In a sewing machine, the combination with the frame, a rotary shaftjournaled therein and provided with a crank, a throatplate secured uponsaid frame, a reciprocating thread-carrying needle and means connectedwith said rotary shaft for imparting thereto one reciprocation for eachrotation of said shaft, of a looper adapted to cooperate with saidneedle both above and below the throat-plate, a vibratory carrier uponwhich said looper is mounted, means for imparting to said carrier onevibratory movement for each rotation of the shaft, and reciprocatingmeans for said looper c0mprising a vibratory actuating lever mountedupon a fixed fulcrum and connected with the looper, a rock-shaft, acrank-arm upon said rock-shaft, a pitman intermediate said cranlcarm andthe crank of the main-shaft, a second arm circularly adjustable uponsaid rock-shaft, and a link intermediate said actuating lever and thesecond arm of said rock-shaft and forming with the latter a toggledevice adapted to be bent to-andfro across straightened or neutralposition for each rotation of the main-shaft.

8. In a sewing machine, the combination with the frame, a rotary shaftjournaled therein, a throat-plate secured upon said frame, areciprocating thread-carrying needle and means connected with saidrotary shaft for imparting thereto one reciprocation for each rotationof said shaft, of a looper adapted to cooperate with said needle bothabove and below the throat-plate, a vibratory carrier upon which saidlooper is mounted, a rock-shaft upon which said carrier is fixed, a camupon said rotary shaft, a roek-lever having a fixed fulcrum and forkedto embrace said cam and provided with a stud, a crank-arm fixed uponsaid rock-shaft and forked to embrace the stud 'of said rock-leverthrough which the operative movements imparted by said cam to therock-lever are communicated to said carrier, and actuating meansconnected with said shaft for reciprocating said looper upon its carriertwice for each rotation of said shaft.

9. In a sewing machine, the combination with the frame, a rotary shaftjournaled therein, a throat-plate secured upon said frame, areciprocating threadcarrying needle and means connected with said rotaryshaft for imparting thereto one reciprocation for each rotation of saidshaft, of a looper adapted to cooperate with said needle both above andbelow the throat-plate, a vibratory carrier upon which said looper ismounted, a rock-shaft upon which said carrier is fixed, a cam upon saidrotary shaft, a rock-lever having a fixed fulcrum and forked to embacesaid cam and provided with a stud, a crank-arm circularly adjustableupon said roek-shaft and forked to embrace the stud of said rock-leverthrough which the operative movements imparted by said cam to therock-lever are connnunicated to said carrier, and actuating means forreciprocating said looper twice for each reciprocation of said needle,the looper-actuating means being provided with means of adj ustmentwhereby the relative length of traverse of the looper in its successivercciprocations may be varied.

10. In a sewing machine, the combination with the frame, a rotaryshaftjournaled therein, a throat-plate secured upon said frame, areciprocating threadcarrying needle and means connected with said rotaryshaft for imparting thereto one reciprocation for each rotation of saidshaft, of a looper adapted to cooperate with said needle both above andbelow the throat-plate and formed with a thread-engaging hook and apivoted latch adapted to close the throat of said hook, a reciprocatingslide-bar upon which said looper is mounted, a vibratory guidebar inwhich the looperbar is slidingly mounted, actuating means for saidguide-bar whereby the looper is directed toward the needle both abovethe throatplate when the needle is in its upper position and below thethroat-plate when the needle is in its lower position, a vibratoryactuating lever mounted upon a fixed fulcrum, a link connectionintermediate said actuating lever and the looper-bar, a rock-shaft,means connected with said rotary shaft for imparting to said rock-shafta rocking movement for each rotation of the rotary shaft, a crank-armcircularly adjustable upon said rock-shaft, and a link connectionintermediate said actuating lever and the crank-arm of said rockshaftand forn'iing with the latter a toggle device adapted to be bentto-and-fro across straightened or neutral position for each rotation ofthe main-shaft to cause the looper to cooperate with the needle bothabove and below the throat-plate in the production of overseam stitches.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALFRED GRIEB. iVitnesses II. A. KORNEMANN, J r., JOSEPH F. J AQUITII.

